Back at the Hospital,
Midoriya and the others watched in horror as Momo vanished with a gurgling sound right in front of their eyes.
The people in the lounge area were still cheering at UA's decision in the Press Conference, oblivious to the sudden disappearance of a girl behind them.
Not one of the Class 1-A students had even processed what had happened when the same black, gooey liquid came gurgling out of Midoriya's mouth.
Hearts sank.
The students lunged to grab Midoriya as he grabbed his own throat.
However, the speed of the liquid coming out of his mouth was so fast that in a fraction of a second, it almost engulfed him.
Almost.
Multicolored lights flashed in Midoriya's mind.
As if time didn't matter to him anymore, he found himself levitating in blackness. The same blackness that he always went through before reaching the Vestiges.
A great surge of emotions and willpower bubbled in his heart.
Outside, in the real world, letting out a powerful grunt, Midoriya shut his mouth close, the strike of his teeth ringing out.
The black liquid that had covered him lost its source and instantly vanished.
And suddenly, like a revelation, Midoriya realized what was going on.
It's him! He thought, even as his eyes reddened in anger and suffocation. All For One!
"What's going on?!" Tenya roared. "What happened to Yaoyorozu?!"
Midoriya had just opened his mouth when the TV Screen blanked, the news anchor returning with a loud noise.
"Breaking News!" the lady announced. "We are receiving multiple reports from the Kamino Ward on Heroes' crackdown on Villains. One of our reporters also sighted All Might, Endeavor, and other Top Heroes at the scene. Not far from them, a loud explosion has decimated many buildings. It is speculated that these two events are related. In a minute, you will be able to see it live as we will cover the entire event from the skies…"
And, without even sharing a word, without Midoriya needing to tell them anything, all the students realized what had happened to Momo, their faces paling instantly.
This place was so far from the Kamino Ward that even if they went beyond their limits, they would never reach there in time.
"… All Might…" Mina mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes. "… He'll save Yao-Momo… right?"
…
A few minutes before,
Just as All For One had fired his attack after being restrained by Best Jeanist, creating a loud explosion and decimating all nearby structures, five figures appeared on top of a skyscraper a mile away.
Four of those five figures were dressed the same — white lab coats and black, clownish masks on faces.
The fifth figure had tried to copy the other four… before giving up.
Not because it couldn't find a lab coat that didn't suit its 12 ft tall body. Nor was it because of its clear lack of a human face, making the mask useless.
But because Mushroom had found that they disliked wearing clothes and hiding their face.
Yes.
The figures were the Apostles of Mr. Fool!
Mr. Reijirou had taken Luke away at UA's request, confining him to Saionji Mansion, just as Endeavor had done with Todoroki.
It was as much related to their punishment as it was related to UA's plan.
Meanwhile, Melissa and Mushroom had found the location where the GPS device Luke had taken from Yuga Aoyama had been activated for the first time.
That had led them to find the Nomu's factory in the Kamino Ward.
Luke had then begun forming his plan with the rest of the Beyonders.
His call to Detective Tsukauchi last night had been as per that plan. But neither that call had been the first nor the last.
"So… that's All For One," Iwao Oguro, formerly Knuckleduster, and presently a Swindler of the Apostles of Mr. Fool with the name of Iron Mentor, said. "That's one ugly bastard."
It would have been impossible to see so much further before, no matter if they had all become Beyonders.
However, Melissa's high-tech masks were turning out to be handier than they had thought.
Even Luke found himself staring right at All For One's metallic helmet as the mask zoomed in on the Villain, an invisible Nyx casually resting on his shoulder.
With their heightened senses, all Apostles not only knew of the invisible presence but also knew its exact appearance.
However, all of them ignored Nyx, hiding their furtive glances behind the masks.
"That's Koichi!" Kazuho Haneyama, formerly Pop*Step, and presently a Trickster of the Apostles of Mr. Fool with the name Trick*Step, shrieked. Then, realizing what she had done, she changed her voice, repeating the same words in an unconcerned tone. "That's Koichi."
Luke and Iwao's mouths twitched behind the masks.
Melissa Shield, the Seer of the Apostles of Mr. Fool, going by the name Shield, narrowed her eyes, wondering if Ms. Trick*Step knew this Koichi personally. She had seen the rest of the Apostles' faces, but, as a show of trust, hadn't tried to find more about them.
Suddenly, they saw All For One mortally attacking Best Jeanist, who barely survived because of Koichi's intervention.
"Oh, we remember him!" Mushroom pointed out. "That's the enemy who fought Master! Skycrawler!"
Luke and Iwao almost facepalmed.
"Huh?!" Kazuho's head snapped left and right. "Leader fought Ko… Skycrawler?! When?!"
Before she could force an answer out of the two guys, though, a scene caught their eyes, tensing all bodies.
Blobs of blackness began appearing all around All For One.
From one of those patches of blackness, right next to his hand, a girl appeared.
All For One reached out and grabbed the girl's throat, her feet kicking at the air in retaliation.
Iron Mentor's fingers balled into fists.
Trick*Step took out a baseball bat from somewhere, tightly grabbing its handle.
And Shield almost reached for the gun in her pockets, recognizing the identity of that girl as Momo Yaoyorozu of Class 1-A.
Yet, none of those three moved or said anything, their faces turning to look at Dr. Blessed, who was standing a step ahead of them, with his hands in his pockets.
Then, as Koichi fired himself toward All For One and more Villains began coming out of the black, liquid-like Warping Quirk, Luke started a timer, which was reflected in all the masks.
"30 seconds," Dr. Blessed said. "That's how much time All Might would take to reach here…"
"She will never survive," Mushroom said matter-of-factly. "It must only take a thought to steal one's Quirk, right, Mr. Iron Mentor?"
Grinding his teeth, Iwao nodded.
"We should…" Shield began.
Dr. Blessed shook his head before looking over his shoulder at them.
Without even seeing his face, the rest of the Apostles knew he was smiling.
"Don't worry," Dr. Blessed said. "I have… already bought us those 30 seconds."
As if that were a cue, a splendid BOOM rang out in front of them, like a supersonic missile striking right into All For One!
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